This is a different kind of claim from the student loan account errors covered elsewhere on this site. Here your complaint is against the university or provider that delivered, or failed to deliver, your course. Not the Student Loans Company.
And because tuition fees are often paid by your student loan, a refund normally goes back to Student Finance and reduces your loan, rather than landing in your bank account. Either way, it is money that should not be sitting on your balance.
The law on your side
You do not need to prove the university acted in bad faith. You need to show the service fell short of what the law requires. Three pieces of consumer law matter most.
Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49: reasonable care and skill. Every contract to supply a service is treated as including a term that the service will be performed with reasonable care and skill. For a course, that broadly means teaching of the standard you would reasonably expect from a competent provider. Persistently cancelled classes, unqualified tutors, or content well below par can all point to that standard not being met.
Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50: what you were told is binding. Information a provider gave you about the course, which you took into account when deciding to enrol, can become a binding term of your contract. So if the prospectus, open day or website promised something the course did not deliver, that promise counts.
On top of that, Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits misleading actions (section 226) and misleading omissions (section 227), for example advertising a placement, accreditation or facility that is not really there. These rules replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which were revoked on 6 April 2025. The Office for Students expects providers to treat students as consumers, and the Competition and Markets Authority has published guidance setting out exactly what those consumer-law obligations are.
What actually counts
Not every disappointment is a legal complaint. These are the situations that most often have real grounds:
- The course was materially different from the prospectus: modules, structure or specialisms promised, then dropped or changed.
- A promised placement or work experience did not happen, or was far shorter or lower quality than advertised.
- Accreditation or professional recognition you were told the course carried turned out not to exist, affecting your ability to work in the field.
- Teaching was persistently cancelled or not delivered, or replaced with far less contact time than promised.
- The course was actually delivered by a franchise or partner provider you were not clearly told about, at a lower quality than the named university implied.
- Facilities, equipment or support central to the course, such as studios, labs, clinical placements or specialist software, were missing.
The complaint route, and the deadline that catches people out
- Complain to the university first, using its internal complaints procedure. Set out what you were promised, what actually happened, the evidence, and what you want.
- Get your Completion of Procedures Letter. When the internal process ends, the provider should issue one setting out its final decision. Keep it safe: it starts the clock for the next step.
- Escalate to the OIA. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education runs a free, independent scheme for student complaints against providers in England and Wales, and can recommend remedies including apologies, reconsideration, fee refunds and compensation.
What to gather now
- The prospectus, course webpage (screenshots with dates), open-day materials and any emails describing the course before you enrolled.
- A simple timeline of what was promised against what actually happened.
- Evidence of the shortfall: cancellation notices, timetables, module changes, placement correspondence, accreditation checks.
- Your internal complaint and the university's responses, including the Completion of Procedures Letter.
You are not powerless here, and you are not asking for a favour. You paid for a service, consumer law sets a standard for that service, and there is a free independent adjudicator whose whole job is to review these complaints. What most students lack is not a case. It is the right wording, the right law cited, and the confidence to put it firmly.
University Course Mis-selling Complaint
Sets out your grounds, cites the Consumer Rights Act, lays out your evidence, states what you want, and asks for the Completion of Procedures Letter that unlocks the OIA route. £15.
If your issue is with your loan account rather than your course, start with the deduction errors guide or the refund hub instead.
The letter for this
University Course Mis-selling Complaint
Written for this specific ground, with the law cited and the evidence demands built in. Complete the placeholders and send it.
Included free with the letter
- How Student Loan Complaints Work
- The Course Was Not What You Were Promised
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a tuition fee refund if my course was not as advertised?
Potentially. When you enrol, the law treats you as a consumer buying a service, so the course has to live up to what you were promised. Where it did not, you may have grounds to complain and in some cases a right to a partial refund. Every case turns on its own facts and evidence.
Who do I complain to, the university or the Student Loans Company?
The university or provider that delivered the course. This is a different kind of claim from a student loan account error. The SLC did not deliver your teaching, so it is not the right target for this complaint.
If I win, do I get the money?
Often not directly. Where tuition fees were paid by your student loan, a refund normally goes back to Student Finance and reduces your loan rather than landing in your bank account. It is still money that should not be sitting on your balance.
What law applies?
Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires the service to be performed with reasonable care and skill. Section 50 means information the provider gave you, which you took into account when deciding to enrol, can become a binding term of the contract. Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 also prohibits misleading actions and omissions.
What is the deadline for an OIA complaint?
Your complaint must reach the Office of the Independent Adjudicator within 12 months of the date on your Completion of Procedures Letter, or it can be refused. This is the single most common way students lose an otherwise good complaint.
Do I have to prove the university acted in bad faith?
No. You need to show the service fell short of the standard the law requires, or did not match what you were told before you enrolled. Intention does not come into it.
Sources: Consumer Rights Act 2015 sections 49 and 50; Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 Part 4 Chapter 1, sections 225 to 227, in force 6 April 2025, replacing the revoked Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008; OIA, can you complain to us, and the scheme time limits; Office for Students, protecting students as consumers; CMA higher education consumer protection guidance. Last checked 18 July 2026. Rules change: check the OIA and gov.uk for the current position.